The SanPlat becomes a platform not only for latrine building, but also for an integrated sanitation programme.
Hygiene Education
Theory and practice goe hand in hand: Hygiene education integrated in a participatory SanPlat programme has an immediate health impact.
Flexible Production
SanPlats can be produced centrally or at village level casting yards by the local people in a decentralised programme. For a participatory programme the all in one mould is ideal as the SanPlats can be made by each family.
Building on Local Traditions and Skills
Latrines like houses can be built in different ways. The cheapest (but less hygienic) traditional latrine can easily be improved with a small SanPlat simply placed over the drop hole. For about two US dollars a traditional latrine has become an improved latrine, hygienic, and child-safe.
Alternative Designs
A latrine can be built in many ways. A few standard SanPlats will fit them all.
Pits can be lined or unlined, round, or rectangular. For the somewhat better-off, a small latrine slab can be integrated in a concrete slab for a VIP latrine. Small SanPlats are also ideal as squatting platforms in pour-flush latrines. THE superstructure can be built completely according to the owner's preferences and affordability.
Most families prefer the improved traditional latrine which also is the cheapest option.
A Sustainable Investment
SanPlats are commonly used in emergency programmes. The same SanPlat can be used over and over again, even when life goes back to normal. For example: Mozambican refugees in camps in Malawi packed their SanPlats together with other belongings when the war was over--not to forget, a better hygiene behaviour for their new life.